Shoaib Akhtar to quit after World Cup

COLOMBO: Pakistan’s maverick paceman Shoaib Akhtar, whose colourful career has been a heady mix of on-field brilliance and off-field controversy, will quit international cricket after the World Cup.
“Yes, I will quit international cricket after the World Cup” the 35-year-old told AFP. “I have taken this decision after much thought. Pakistan’s last match in this World Cup will also be my last. I hope that will be the final on April 2.”
Akhtar made up his mind after Pakistan’s 110-run defeat against New Zealand, in which he went for 70 runs in his nine overs.
He was rested for the match against Zimbabwe on Monday and was thought to be an unlikely starter for Saturday’s last Group A match against Australia.
Akhtar, who made his international debut in 1997, took 178 wickets in 46 Tests, the last of which was against India at Bangalore in 2007. He is three wickets short of 250 in 163 one-day internationals and has taken 19 wickets in 15 Twenty20 internationals.
Pakistan squad members hugged him in the dressing room on Thursday before captain Shahid Afridi embraced him as the players entered the R. Premadasa stadium for practice.
Akhtar, known as the Rawalpindi Express during his tearaway days as one of Test cricket’s most feared if unpredictable talents, once cracked the 100mph barrier at the 2003 World Cup.
At this World Cup, which was always likely to be his swansong, Akhtar looked neat and tidy with figures of 0-10 and 2-42 against Kenya and Sri Lanka respectively.
He missed the win over Canada and was smashed all over the park at Pallekele against New Zealand, with figures of 1-70, before being dropped for the game with Zimbabwe.
But his career will always be remembered for a series of fitness problems, discipline violations as well as a doping offence that put the brakes on his achieving his true potential.
Akhtar and the now banned Mohammad Asif failed drugs tests in 2006 and were suspended for two years and one year respectively, both of which were lifted on appeal.
Fitness problems forced him to miss the 2007 World Cup while he was fined heavily and banned for 13 ODIs, after he hit Asif with a bat, two days before the 2007 World Twenty20 in South Africa.
Shoaib Akhtar career timeline
Shoaib Akhtar’s career timeline after the Pakistan pace bowler on Thursday announced his retirement from international cricket after the World Cup:
1996
Removed from the team for the Sahara Cup against India in Canada on grounds of indiscipline.
1997
Akhtar makes his Test debut against the West Indies in November at his home ground in Rawalpindi, taking two wickets.
February 1999
Akhtar dismisses Indian greats Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries in the Calcutta Test, which Pakistan win to lift the Asian Test championship. Earns nickname of “Rawalpindi Express”.
December 1999
Akhtar’s action called for the first time, but the International Cricket Council (ICC) allows him to carry as only his bouncer causes concerns.
March 2000
Banned for one ODI and fined for reaching team hotel late in Pakistan.
2001
Akhtar’s action called for second time after taking five wickets in New Zealand.
November 2001
Action called for third time in Sharjah, after which Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) carries out examination at University of Western Australia which concludes his action is result of “unique physical characteristics” which form basis of him being cleared to continue.
November 2002
Reprimanded for ball-tampering and banned for one ODI after throwing water bottle at a spectator in Zimbabwe.
May 2003
Banned for two ODIs and fined 75 per cent of match fee for ball-tampering during a tri-series in Sri Lanka
March 2003
Akhtar bowled at 100mph in Pakistan’s match against England at Cape Town, becoming the first bowler in the history of the game to break the 100mph barrier.
October 2003
Banned for one Test and two ODIs for abusing Paul Adams in the first Test against South Africa, after taking eight wickets in the match to help Pakistan win. In second Test against New Zealand, helps Pakistan win with seven-wicket burst (11 in the match).
March 2004
Akhtar accused of feigning injury after Pakistan lost Test series to archrivals India 2-1.
October 2006
Akhtar and Mohammad Asif test positive for banned steroid nandrolone. Akhtar banned for two years and Asif for one year, bans which were lifted on appeal.
September 2007
Akhtar hits Asif with a bat, two days before the World Twenty20 in South Africa. A month later the PCB fine and ban him for 13 one-day matches
January 2008
Excluded from list of central contracts. A fuming Akhtar criticises the PCB. A disciplinary committee bans him for five years. Punishment reduced to 18 months on appeal, but fine imposed
May 2009
PCB drop him from World Twenty20 squad.
January 2011
Selected in Pakistan’s World Cup squad, despite coach Waqar Younis saying he is not 100 percent fit.
March 2011
Akhtar announces he will retire after the World Cup

 

KARACHI:  English playwright Ray Cooney’s longest running play in London is now being staged at the Arts Council Karachi by Lush, an Islamabad-based troupe.

Run For Your Wife is a farcical and nonsensical comedy about a taxi driver John Smith (Zahid Ahmad) who leads the life of a bigamist in London. His first wife Mary Smith (Amy Saleh) is a simpleton, the second is the young and vivacious Barbara Smith (Sundas Tariq). Things are well in both the households until John meets an accident trying to save a lady from thugs. While admitted in hospital, he shares his postal address with the staff. When he is taken to the police station, he gives out another residential address.  Following his mysterious absence, John’s wives start searching for their husband — there begins the roller-coaster ride for John whose life is now all about maintaining the right version of the mishap depending on who he’s talking to. Throughout the police are trying to figure where the real John Smith lives.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Usama Qazi, producer and co-director of the play, said: “The actors are in between the framework of amateurs and professionals. They have been doing theatre for the past four or five years.”
The statement seems true for the leading actor Zahid Ahmad, who enacted the role of John Smith flawlessly. The performances of Amy Saleh and Sundas Tariq were equally commendable. Fendi Khan, who played Smith’s best friend Stanley Gardner, seemed to control the entire stage with his acting, often times superseding Zahid Ahmad.
Not to be forgotten is the comic, gay character of Bobby Franklyn played by Zarnab Rashid. Though he rarely appeared on stage, he thrilled everyone with his comic and exceedingly merry character. Other notable performances were of the detective, Sergeant Troughton played by Omar Saleem and the jovial detective Sergeant Porterhouse played by Ajlal Shah.
Directed by Salma Mir, the group roped in Ottomann Ali Khan for sound and lighting arrangements. Tanveer Abbas designed the set, which was a little confusing as the background had two sets, camouflaged into one big room.
Karachi welcomes Run For Your Wife
Usman Qazi is all applause for the welcoming treatment his play has received from the people of Karachi: “I’ve been overwhelmed with the response that I have received from Karachi… from the media to the audience.”
Comparing Karachiites to the people of Islamabad, Qazi said: “Karachiites seem to try to understand comedy and can take jokes. The people of Islamabad are very snobbish”. He further said: “Firstly, people in Islamabad do not purchase tickets for theatre. 90 per cent of them want to come through an invite. Karachiites, on the other hand, pay. Secondly, Karachi is a  tremendous market. Thirdly, Islamabad is more bureaucratic, and Karachi things are fast paced. If you see it like this, Islamabad is like taking a morning walk in the park, Karachi is a marathon!”
Qazi further said that Karachi can become “a hub of theatre within the next five years if people continue to support performing arts.”
So what’s up next for Qazi: “To bring an Urdu musical to the audience, Urdu, is the way forward.”

Afridi dismisses fears over playing in India

KARACHI: Pakistan’s captain Shahid Afridi said his team were happy to play their World Cup knockout stage matches in India despite earlier voicing concerns about security.
“It does not matter to us where we play our quarter-final. The biggest issue for us was to qualify for the knockout stage and we have done that now,” Afridi said on Geo TV.
“We are ready to play our quarter-final at any venue now,” the experienced all-rounder said.
The Pakistan skipper had kicked off a debate in Pakistan cricket circles earlier in the competition when he said that his team would like to avoid playing their knockout matches in India and preferred to remain in Sri Lanka.
Afridi had reasoned that playing in India would bring more pressure on the players because of the tense relations between the countries.
“That is a thing of the past. Right now we are just happy to make the quarter-final and if we remain in our confident mode then it does not matter where our quarter-final venue is,” Afridi said after an apparent change of view.
Broke off
Former captain, Imran Khan had criticised Afridi for publicly airing his views on not wanting to play in India.
“If I had been in his place I would have announced we are ready to take on India in India because there is more pressure and expectations on the Indian team,” Imran earlier told Reuters.
India broke off bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan following the gun attacks on Mumbai in November 2008 and since then has also not invited Pakistani players to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Pakistan’s last cricket tour to India was in late 2007 although they have met in International Cricket Council (ICC) competitions on neutral grounds.
India will host one quarter-final, a semi-final and final of the World Cup.
Afridi said his team had now come out of their bleak spot-fixing scandal period and was just focusing on the World Cup.
“The off-the-field problems for us are over now and the mood is confident in the dressing room. We now just want to end our group with a win over Australia and we have the firepower to do that,” he said.